Soap how does it work chemically

Soap is a natural surfactant. A surfactant is any substance that tends to reduce the surface tension of a liquid in which it is dissolved. Almost all cleansing products are based on surfactants. Surfactants not only reduce the surface tension of the water but the way they are constructed with one hydrophilic end and one hydrophobic end makes them compatible with both water and oils.

This property is what makes them good for cleansing. When surfactants lower the surface tension of water, they basically make the water molecules more slippery, so they are less likely to stick to themselves and more likely to interact with oil and grease.

Natural soap needs no synthetic additives to create lather or to clean because natural soap is a natural surfactant. So it not only makes great bubbles and lather, but it also helps clean oily dirt from your skin--naturally!

You can think of soap as the middle-man that helps bring oil and water together so that the dirt and grease on your skin can be easily rinsed away.

Since some sort of surfactant is needed to wash oily dirt away if the cleansing product you are using on your face, body, or hair is not real soap, then it is made with synthetic surfactants, basically detergents. Skip nav to content. April 18, Water and anything that will mix with water are hydrophilic. Oil and anything that will mix with oil are hydrophobic. Measure ad performance.

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Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Share Flipboard Email. Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph. Chemistry Expert. Helmenstine holds a Ph. She has taught science courses at the high school, college, and graduate levels. Facebook Facebook Twitter Twitter. Key Takeaways: Soap Soap is a fatty acid of a salt. Soaps are used as cleansers and lubricants. Soap cleans by acting as a surfactant and emulsifier.

It can surround oil, making it easier to rinse it away with water. Featured Video. Cite this Article Format. Helmenstine, Anne Marie, Ph. How Soap Works. Biological Polymers: Proteins, Carbohydrates, Lipids. It looks pretty cool, but do you know how soap works? Try this experiment to find out. Washing up liquid is a kind of soap. Normally, oil and water don't mix, so they separate into two different layers. Soap breaks up the oil into smaller drops, which can mix with the water.

It works because soap is made up of molecules with two very different ends. One end of soap molecules love water - they are hydrophilic. The other end of soap molecues hate water - they are hydrophobic. Hydrophobic ends of soap molecule all attach to the oil. Hydrophilic ends stick out into the water. This causes a drop of oil to form:.

These drops of oil are suspended in the water. This is how soap cleans your hands - it causes drops of grease and dirt to be pulled off your hands and suspended in water. These drops are washed away when you rinse your hands.